Making Up For Lost Time
by GrimM Bbliss
Summary: Raynebowe Prodigioso was a normal fifteen year old, until she got The Letter. It threw her into a world of magic and secrets. Now she has to learn five years of material in one. Can she do it with the help of her dream man and the Hero of that world?
1. Chapter 1

**I would like to point out now that my narrating character is from America, not England. I know this technically out of whack with the requirements of Hogwarts, but I shall make it work! She lives in an apartment, not a flat, so deal with it.**

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Somehow, my life so far had been… un-noteworthy. I'd not done anything important, and this bothered me. I felt like I had a great fate awaiting me, but it had yet to come. I felt special, but at the same time, I knew I wasn't. My whole life was simply a filler-plot. Until the letter came, I was just the life before the beginning.

My mother and I had gone backpacking through Europe on an exploration of the history of tattoos (my mum's a tattooist at a tattoo parlor in my hometown) right after school was out as a late fifteenth birthday present for me. First, we stopped in England to visit some old family friends, but then it was weeks of jumping from town to town, seeing some epic body art, and getting a little bit of my own. We got back June 1, to a giant pile of mail and a very relieved cat, Lux. We'd had a neighbor feed and water him, but he'd missed us anyway. Lux was a F1 Savannah, a kitten from a mating between a Serval (African wild cat) and an Egyptian Mau, and Savannah's are very loyal and attached to their owners.

We'd crashed in the living room, gear and all, and slept for hours. I woke up the next morning to the smell of feet and coffee. My mom's boots were by my head and she was in the kitchen, I assumed. I knocked Lux off my chest and padded into the kitchen. I growled and poured myself a cup of the hot lifeblood. If I didn't get my coffee in the mornings, I'd end up killing someone.

Mom had made bacon. I greedily shoved a handful into my mouth. Lux butted his head against my leg and complained that I hadn't fed him breakfast yet, so I tossed a piece of bacon into the air. He stood up and jumped, snatching it out of the air. He carried it over to his food bowl and put it in. He was like a well behaved dog, only cuter.

I took another swig of my coffee and went to get the mail. There were bills, advertisements, and a really cool antique-looking envelope with emerald ink writing on it. It was addressed to me, a weird occurrence to begin with; I never got mail. The other weird thing was it was addressed as followed:

MS. R. PRODIGIOSO

FIRST BEDROOM ON THE LEFT

214 RIDGE ROAD, APARTMENT C

CANTON, OHIO

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

I slid a knife under the seal, popping it open. Inside, there were three sheets, one that read:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Prodigioso, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress

The second letter was a list of supplies:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)  
by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic  
by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory  
by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration  
by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi  
by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions  
by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  
by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection  
by Quentin Trimble

Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2  
by Miranda Goshawk

Intermediate Transfiguration  
by Emeric Switch

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3  
by Miranda Goshawk

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4  
by Miranda Goshawk

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5  
by Miranda Goshawk

Advanced Transfiguration  
by Emeric Switch

1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

The third sheet was a letter from this Albus Dumbledore guy:

Dear Ms. Raynebowe Prodigioso,

Due to an overlook in our system, you have missed four years of instruction. We request you return with our representative immediately to make up the time lost. If you fail to do so, you will attend the make-up classes before and after your regularly scheduled classes.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

What the hell was going on? Was this a joke? Was someone screwing with me? Where was this representative? I peered out the window looking over the street.

Outside was a large, hairy man leaning on a motorcycle. He smiled and waved thick fingers at me. I jumped back and ran to the back of the apartment, looking for Mom. She was in her bedroom, zonked out. I jumped on her and started trying to wake her up.

"Mom, mom, there's this guy on the street, and I just got this letter, and- hey, are you listening?" I hit her arm a bit. She rolled over and smiled sleepily.

"Yeah, I hear you. Nom, nom, there's cheese in the mesquite and the pie is better." I rolled my eyes.

"No, Ma. That's not even remotely what I said. I think you need to get your head out of your stomach." She sat up and took a deep breath. Blinking, she looked at me.

"Okay, so what were you saying? There's a guy, and a letter, what else?" My mom wasn't really awake yet, so I poked her in the ribs. "Hey, I'm up! Tell me what's got you freaked out!"

"Okay, so I just got this really weird letter. It's addressed to me, and it says I've been accepted to 'Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. I'm supposed to go with their representative, who I'm assuming is the creepy guy outside. Apparently, they overlooked me and I have to catch up."

"What? Let me see that! Is this some sort of joke? What's going on?"

"I don't think's it a joke, Mom. I think we need to hear what that guy has to say." I got up and walked to the front of the apartment. Mom followed me and unbolted the door. I went over to the window and waved the guy up.

We heard him on his way up as soon as he hit the stairs. It sounded like a herd of elephants trying to squeeze into the tiny elevator. When he knocked on the door, it almost came down. Mom opened the door and let him in. He had to stoop to get through the doorway.

"Hello, ma'am. See yeh got yer letter. I'm guessin' yeh'll want a few things explained." I crossed my arms.

"Yeah, that's an understatement. Would you like some tea, or coffee? We don't have much to offer, we just got back from a trip." Even when my mom was flipping out inside, she could put on a façade and appear calm. I needed to keep my mouth shut or I'd say something offensive or stupid.

"No thank yeh, ma'am." We all sat down around the small kitchen table, me sipping my coffee, Mom looking confused. "So, I'll bet yeh think this is some sort'o prank. Well, I'm here to tell yeh it's not. It's a hundred percent real."

"That's impossible. This letter," I said, holding the papers in my fist, "say that I'm a witch! There's no way!" I was a firm believer in things greater than what's accepted as fact. But to think that I may be more was just too improbable. I'd always been the girl who didn't stand out, besides my tats.

"It is possible, 'cause it's true. Yeh still don' believe me, do yeh? What if I show yeh proof o' magic? Will yeh believe me then?" I raised an eyebrow; I was also a firm believer in evidence.

"Sure. If you can show me undeniable proof of magic, then I will go with you to this 'Hogwarts' place." Yeah, like this was going to happen. Much to my surprise, the burly man pulled out a ratty pink umbrella. He pointed it at the small plant-pot of catnip we kept in the windowsill. He said something and it burst into flames.

A long and creative stream of profanity ensued from my mouth. My mom hit me in the arm and told me to watch my language. That scared the crap out of me. My mom was usually very lenient on language since she swore like a sailor. She only cracked down on it when she was feeling scared or angry.

"Um, so I guess this means I'm going to England." Oh joy.

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**Lol, I know I ended this chapter terribly. The next one is her in Diagon Alley. I'm going to try to get it posted in a reasonable amount of time. Sorry for anyone who's been looking for the next chapter in my Twilight ff. I promise, I haven't given it up! I'm just taking a break from it. If I didn't, I'd probably ruin it, so yeah…..**

**I had to go back through and check everything for spelling, sorry, Alyson. FF ate it. Why? i have no idea, but now EVERYTHING is correct.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I forgot the disclaimer in the last chapter, but I shall try not to from now on. **

**No, sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling. Please refrain from pointing this out to me, or I may sic a rabid Chihuahua on you.**

**Yeah, this took forever to write, mostly because I had a ton of schoolwork to do. I'll try to update more, but no promises.**

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"Are you sure this thing is safe?" I eyed the bike dubiously. "It's kind of, eh, _rusty_." That wasn't the only thing about it. It looked like it was a million years old, and it was loud. It was worse than jets flying overhead.

"This is as safe as anything! Was give to me by me good friend Sirius Black! Now, yeh can put yer trunk in the back o' the sidecar. Plenty o' room. Yeh can hol' the cat's cage." I slid the trunk holding my clothes into the white sidecar.

"His name is Lux. He hates being called 'cat,'" I said icily. I didn't really like this man. He was nice enough, I guess, I just didn't like him. But right now, he was the only one who I knew in this new world.

"We best be off, then," he said. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Mr. Hagrid, I want your honest opinion. Do you think I have any chance of making it through this year? Do you think I'll fit in?" I was terrified of standing out, even though I loved my ink. I kept them (mostly) under clothes for a reason. "This is really scary."

"Yeah, it can be scary. An' I think yeh can fit in jus' fine. Yer kinda unique, though. No one is overlooked for firs' year, bu' you were." Yeah, that helped a lot. Unique is not a word I like. It just puts a positive spin on weird.

I shoved my long black hair up under the helmet Mr. Hagrid handed to me. Only the very ends of the shorter, multicolored front stuck out. We dyed them a few years ago, and they'd stayed the same length and didn't fade, for some reason. The colors were kind of a mockery of my insane name, Raynebowe. Who the hell names their daughter Raynebowe? And why not just spell it like a normal person, Rainbow? As you can see, this is something I'd hated for a long time; I insisted my friends call me Ray or Rayne (never Bowe).

Anyway. I climbed into the white sidecar and Mr. Hagrid climbed onto the huge turquoise bike and kicked it to life. We took off down the street and then he hit a button. The bike lurched into the sky and started going at a phenomenal pace. It scared the crap out of me and I think I screamed, but I couldn't hear it over the roar of the engine and the wind. I lost track of time and space, and the only things I could feel were Lux's cage biting into my lap, the seat pressed against my back, and the wind whipping my hair out from under the helmet.

After a time, I felt us descending. Below us were the twinkling lights of London. Well, what I could see through the fog/clouds. It was around dusk, and the city was coming alive. No one seemed to see us as we landed in front of a slightly rundown pub with a sign that said "The Leaky Cauldron." On the sign was a stereotypical witch stirring a cauldron with a crack in it.

While Hagrid's back was turned, I opened Lux's cage and slipped him into my bag. He was used to this, as I carried him around like this quite often. He snuggled down into my things and went to sleep. Hagrid opened the door and we stepped into a dark, dusty room.

"Hey there, Hagrid! Have the usual today, will you? What'll the young miss have?" The man behind the bar greeted Hagrid warmly. I rolled my eyes. There was no way I looked old enough to drink, in the Muggle world or the wizarding world (Hagrid had explained the basics before we left my house). Looking seventeen was beyond my reach.

"Nothin' today, Tom. Official business o' the school. Jus' passin' through." Hagrid looked like he was blushing under his giant beard. "C'mon, we gotta meet someone, R-" I hit him in the side.

"No, don't you dare say my full first name. It's Ray, okay?" I looked around slightly impatiently. "You said we were meeting someone?" No one in the pub looked like they were waiting for an eight-foot tall man with a bushy beard and a girl with strange hair.

"He's waitin' in Diagon Alley. I'll leave yeh with him, an' I'll take yer things to the school." He muttered something under his breath.

"Hm? What was that?" I was sure he'd said something insulting to whomever we were meeting. If possible, he started blushing a brighter red.

"Nothin', nothin! Well, we'd better get along." He hurried out the back door into a chilly courtyard. He whipped out that freakish pink umbrella and tapped some bricks. They melted away and formed an arch leading to a lane filled with people.

"Oh my god! This is amazing. Ya know, this is really one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life! Jesus!" I felt like I was going to break my neck trying to look at everything at once. Hagrid cleared his throat.

"This here's Draco Malfoy, yer new bes' friend." He gestured to a short-ish platinum blonde boy with grey eyes and a smirk that looked permanently plastered to his face. "An' his father, Lucius Malfoy." Behind the smirking boy was a tall man with the same color hair, only longer. He looked kind of intimidating, and he had a walking stick with a snake capping it. They were standing next to a little book store and looked as if they'd been waiting a while.

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you, Draco Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy!" I widened my eyes and spoke in a fake overeager voice. Shaking their hands vigorously, I tried to keep myself from laughing at their startled looks. I took a step back and almost rolled my eyes as Lucius tried to wipe his hand on his leg discreetly. He didn't succeed.

"Mm, yes. We have many things to do, so don't dally about." The man spoke with a conceited, nasally voice that grated on my nerves. He strode off as if we were going to automatically follow him.

"The Malfoy family's bin elected to sponsor a Muggle-born, which happens to be yeh. I'll see yeh back at the school. Good luck!" I gave Hagrid a quick hug and sprinted after the Malfoys. These people gave off vibes that said they were _way _too into themselves.

We stopped in front of a store, a nice shop with a large curved bay window. Above the door was a sign that read _OLLIVANDERS: MAKERS OF FINE WANDS SINCE __382 B.C_ in peeling gold paint. The Malfoys strode in like they owned the place. I reluctantly followed. These were not the kind of people I liked to associated with. As soon as I could, I'd ditch them and wonder around on my own for a bit.

"We're looking for a wand, Ollivander," said Lucius imperiously. I looked around. There were thousands of thin boxes like really slender shoeboxes. I'm guessing they were wand boxes. Seeing as they were the only thing in the store, the announcement was unnecessary.

A white-haired man wheeled a ladder from between the shelves and stepped down. He dusted off his hands and one out for Lucius to shake. Lucius looked at it disdainfully and glanced around the shop, as if nothing was worthy of a full-on stare. I was really starting to not like this guy. He was as snobby and stuck up as some of the people I knew back in Ohio.

"Hello there, Mr. Malfoy. A pleasure, as always. Who is this charming young lady? I've never seen her here before, and she seems a bit old to be getting her first wand. Who did you go to?" Mr. Ollivander, as I assumed this was, cast his attention my way, offering me his hand.

"Um, my name is Raynebowe Prodigioso, sir. And actually, this is my first wand. Blip in the system." I shook his hand, ignoring the eye roll from the youngest Malfoy. "This is a very nice shop you have, Mr. Ollivander." The older Malfoy took a step forward and grasped my shoulder. He steered me toward the shelves.

"We don't have all day to talk to shopkeepers. Come, Ollivander, help her find a wand." He stepped back and wiped his hand on his leg again. I really didn't like this guy. Mr. Ollivander rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated bow. I got the feeling he didn't like him either.

"As you wish, Master Malfoy. Let's see if we can find your match, Miss Prodigioso." He pulled a box out and handed it to me. "Try out that one. It's holly with a dragon heartstring core. Good and sturdy, a great wand for a person new to magic."

I carefully took the lid off the box and unwrapped the wand. It was whitish and quite warm in my hand, almost as if it were alive. Wrapping it firmly in my hand, I moved it a bit. It flew out of my hand and knocked a box to the ground. Mr. Ollivander picked up the stray wand and the box it knocked off.

"Hmm… Try this one. Most things happen for a reason." I stood there staring at him. "Go on, it's not going to bite." Under his breath, he muttered, "Probably." I was startled, but took it anyway.

"If this one bites me, I'm going to be royally pissed. I'll probably throw it at you. Just so you know." I waved it a bit. Nothing happened. "You know, I would have been happier if it _had _bit me. At least something would have happened."

I set it down cautiously, just in case it had decided to bite me, and it flew at a shelf and knocked another one off the shelf. That was getting old, fast. Not even waiting for the aging Mr. Ollivander to get there, I picked it up myself. It was pale red, almost pink, and I could almost see a fantastical white hair inside. As soon as I touched it, the air around me surged. A blinding light surrounded me and the wand, and it just clicked. Without realizing it, I sat down in the middle of the shop and cradled the wand to my chest. Lux came out and curled up in my lap, purring.

"This is my wand." It wasn't me asking, it was me stating. This was mine, and no one else's. Behind me, I heard coins being passed from one hand to another. I assumed that Mr. Malfoy was paying for the wand. Behind me, there was a noise, like a silver bell being rung. "What's that sound?"

Draco reached inside his robes and pulled out what I assumed was his wand. It was a dark brown, and was glowing as brightly as mine was. Mr. Ollivander made a clicking noise with his tongue.

"It would appear that your wands are brothers. They share a common core source. Interesting, very interesting." He let the coins fall from one hand to the other in a careless gesture and walked away. Lucius made a harrumphing noise and disappeared in a swirl of cloak. Draco scampered after him.

Sliding Lux back into my bag, I ran after them. I'd snatch some of their cash, which they seemed to have a ton of, and go wander off. From behind, I sized them up quickly. It seemed like the older Malfoy would be more likely to guard his money closely, and have a nasty surprise for a pickpocket. The younger one, however, seemed like he'd flaunt his money and just assume no one would dare mess with him. If I was ever going to get away with it, I'd have to get it from the younger Malfoy.

Brushing against him, I reached into one of his pockets and grabbed the sack of heavy metal I felt in there. Dashing off, I ducked into an alley. Pouring the coins into my hand, I found about twenty gold coins, and a handful silver ones. Hagrid had told me that the gold ones were Galleons, the silver ones were Sickles, and there were another type that were bronze called Knuts. There were 17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle. I didn't see any Knuts here, so I had approximately 25 Galleons.

Pulling the letter from the school out of my back pocket, I wondered around looking for a bookshop to buy my textbooks. I got a few strange looks, but I ignored them. I usually only got looks when I wore short-sleeves and people got a look at my ink, but most things just rolled off me. Unless someone said something extremely vulgar or rude to me, I probably wouldn't hit anyone. Eventually I found a store that seemed busy, called Flourish and Botts. I strolled in and took a look around.

"Can I help you, miss?" There was a harried-looking man standing in front of me, obviously trying to get the comparatively strange customer (me, it would seem) out before the others noticed. "Looking for in particular?"

"Yes, actually. I'm looking for these books." I handed him my booklist. He raised an eyebrow, but I didn't offer any more information. He led me to them and then to the cash register.

"Will this be all, miss?" He told me the total, 20 Galleons*. I handed over the money and took my books. I continued to wonder around until I ran into the Malfoys again. They didn't even seem to know I had gone missing.

"Oh, you've gotten your books, I see," said Lucius haughtily. "What does that leave left to buy, Draco?" Draco pulled out a list he had.

"Uniforms, a cauldron, a phial set, a telescope, and brass scales." I half thought that one of them may offer to help carry my things, but no. I carried _everything _until we finished. Including some things they picked up for no reason. By the time we had crossed everything off the list, I was really, really tired. We moved into an empty alley and stopped.

"Um, what are we doing now?" This was the second time I'd talked to them at all, and they seemed a bit startled. "How are we getting to Hogwarts?" Draco smiled evilly.

"Oh, you'll love it. It's called Apparition." Draco held onto his father's arm, and I held onto the other. Lucius visibly squirmed under my touch, so I held tighter. He turned on the spot.

It felt like I was being squeezed through a toothpaste tube. I couldn't breathe, and I thought my brain was going to come out my nose. Suddenly, it stopped. I collapsed and coughed violently. All my things fell into the dirt, but until I got my breath back, I wouldn't care. I never wanted to do that again.

"That was terrible. _Never. Again._" I swear to God, if that conceited little shit was laughing at me, I'd punch him in that smug mouth of his. I looked up and balled my hands into fists but kept them hid under my sleeves. He was smirking, but there was no laughter in his eyes.

We were in front of a large gate. Behind the gate was a tall, thin man with silver-white hair and a matching beard. He had piercing blue eyes and crescent-moon glasses and a vibrant crimson robe. He unlocked the gate, but we didn't walk through until he motioned us in. I felt something snap back up behind us, and twirled around.

"What was that?" All this new stuff was making me a wee bit paranoid. I wanted to know what everything was, and I wanted to know right then, damn it. It was scaring the heck out of me, not that I would admit that to present company.

"That was the wards being replaced. They had to be lowered for you to Apparate so close to the school." The man smiled at me kindly. His eyes twinkled.

"Okay. Everything's just kinda thrown me off. It's the combined surprise of today, I guess." I blinked and looked at my watch. That wouldn't do me any good, seeing as I forgot to set it to this time zone. "Does anyone know what time it is? My watch is still set to Ohio."

The tall man tapped my watch with his wand. The screen went blank for a second, but came up right away. The numbers were different, and I had no doubt that they were correct. We walked up a long path to a huge castle, then down a staircase, and then down another staircase. Draco showed me to a room. He told me that there was a bathroom between our rooms, but I wasn't really listening.

"That is the biggest bed I have ever seen!" I dropped my stuff and jumped into it. "It's as big as half my room back home! It's so soft!" I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Nothing. Goodnight." He gave me the first honest smile I'd seen since I met him and shut my door quietly. I fell asleep almost as soon as the door latched, my last thought of that one true smile I'd seen today.

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**That's the chapter. Yes, I know it took forever, and may be a huge disappointment, but that's all I got for that. I promise to try to get the next one up soon, but it may take a bit. I'm going to Ohio in for Christmas break, so I'll have plenty of quality computer time (about 14 hours) and that'll help a lot, but it may take a while.**

*** About the cost of the books, I have no idea what they'd cost, and I don't feel the need to research that much.**

**Review, and there shall be cupcakes for all! =33  
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	3. Chapter 3

**No, sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling. Please refrain from pointing this out to me, or I may sic a rabid Chihuahua on you.**

**I forgot to say so in the last chapter, but her wand is alder with a unicorn core. If you know your stuff, you'd know that's the same core as Draco's. Anyway, reviews are appreciated!**

**This chapter's not going to be too long, but I'm going to try to get the next one up really soon.**

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"Call off your beast! Call it off, I say! OW!" Lux was growling and chirping at whoever was talking. I couldn't quite place where I was. My windows were usually open by the time I woke up, and I couldn't smell the street or feel the sun. I rolled over and grabbed Lux by the tail.

"Ha! Got ya, you little monster! Who're you eating?" I looked up in the gloom. That's right, I was in Hogwarts, and this was Draco Malfoy, the little shit who's family was sponsoring me. Draco was holding his hand to his chest. "What, did he get you? Let me see you hand."

"That little brute should be destroyed. He bit me!" He showed me his hand. "See, it's bleeding!" There was a little red pinprick by the base of his thumb.

"You big baby," I exclaimed. "When you're spouting blood, then you can whine. Wimp." I wiped the blood off with my finger, then licked the wound. He looked at me incredulously and pulled his hand back. "What? Animals lick their wounds. Look, it's healing already."

"It's disgusting! Never do it to me again. Blech!" He rushed into the adjoining bathroom and rinsed his hand off, then came back in. "Get dressed. We have a lot to do today. You get your first flying lesson today. Since Madam Hooch couldn't be here this summer, I get to teach you." His tone said he thought this obviously wasn't worth his time.

"Well, leave me alone for two minutes so I can change!" I pushed him out of my room and shut the door. He exclaimed indignantly and stomped off. I yanked off my jeans, underwear, and t-shirt. Dashing into the bathroom, I turned the shower on and jumped in. Scrubbing my hair and body, I let the cool water wake me up the rest of the way.

There was a soft white towel sitting on a low table, and I dried off and went back into my room. My bed was made and my clothes were picked up. Whatever. I pulled another pair of underwear and jeans out of my trunk and pulled them on. If last night was any indication, it was chilly. And if we were flying, that'd make it even colder, so I pulled on a tank top and a sweater.

Knocking softly, I eased Draco's door open. Even though he'd been distant and mean, I thought he may be different away from his father. That smile he gave me last night had stuck, and showed a new side that I wanted to know. "Hey, I'm ready to go. Are you?"

"Just a moment." Draco was finishing buttoning his shirt and I caught a glimpse of his chest. He may be small, but he had well-defined muscles. I felt myself blushing and had to pinch myself on the arm. I got myself under control before he turned around. "We can go to the Quidditch pitch, or just on the main lawn."

"What's Quidditch? Is that a sport or something? You play it on brooms?" He picked up a black and silver streamlined broom with two metal pieces that I assumed were stirrups, like on a saddle. "Umm… Wherever you want to go is fine, I guess. Just explain Quidditch to me."

"Okay, so…" Draco started talking animatedly and his grey eyes turned silver. I could tell this was something he loved. As we walked out of the building, he explained the basic rules, players, and strategy to me. When he stopped talking, we were on a large oval field with huge stands around it. "Do you want me to show you what to do, or do you want to try it by yourself?"

"I'll try it. Okay, what do I do?" He handed me the broomstick.

"Grip this with our knees and put one foot in the stirrup. Then kick off and go." I looked at the little piece of wood and twigs.

"No."

"It's not that hard, really. And it's fun!"

"No."

"Do it."

"No."

"Do it now." He was getting pissed off.

"No. You can't make me." I was acting childish, but there was no way this would work.

"Oh, like hell I can't!" He got on the broom in front of me, put one foot in the stirrup, and kicked off. We rocketed from the ground straight up into the air.

"Oh my God!" I screamed and wrapped my arms tightly around him. "No, no, take me back down right now!" He smile mischievously.

"Whatever you say," he shouted over his shoulder. I have no idea what he did, but we fell like a rock. I was sure we were going to hit the Earth and die, but at the last possible millisecond he pulled up. We landed lightly on the same place we had taken off from.

"LAND!" I threw myself down on the ground. "You asshole. That scared me to death!" I hit him in the ankles and lower calves. "You did that on purpose!"

"Did I? Well, you did insist I couldn't make you." He crouched down next to me. "Ready to try it on your own?" His smile was less evil, but there was still a heavy dose of laughter in it.

"NO! I am never getting on a broom again!" I hid my face in the grass. "Why would anyone willingly do that?" I shuddered. "I think I'll just stay here for a minute."

"Nope, you need to get up and try again. I promise not to do that again. Without telling you." I reluctantly let him help me up and got back on the broom. "Want me to go with you?"

"No, I swear I can do it by myself. Just make sure to catch me if I fall." I kicked off from the ground, hovered above Draco's head for about thirty seconds, and fell straight down. I thought he wasn't going to catch me, but he stuck his arms out and slowed me down. Too bad I'm big-boned (Ha!) and we both still fell.

Draco was over me, his hair knocked out of place. His eyes were half-closed and he had a slight flush to his cheeks. My heart was beating erratically, and he was breathing hard. His knees were on either side of my hips and he had my arms pinned over my head with one of his. Something made me think that falling like this was not a complete accident.

I smirked at him and rolled over onto him. He still had my arms, but he couldn't do anything with them. He rolled us over again, and he was back on top. I wiggled a little, trying to free my arms, but to no avail. He was stronger than his little frame made him look. I forced my arms to my side, but he just held them there, too.

"I think I've had enough for today, Malfoy," I said through my teeth. I may end up doing something I would regret later if he didn't stop. "C'mon, there's something in my eye, I need to wipe it." He moved his face to mine until he was less than an inch away.

"I don't see anything."

"You're right, I made it up. Let me go anyway." He rolled his eyes and stood up. Holding a hand down for me, he pulled me up with ease. "Man, I think falling hurt my back." I stretched my fingers to my toes, then over my head. I felt Draco's eyes on me. "What?"

"Is that a tattoo? Right there above your arse?" I looked over my shoulder.

"Yup. One of my new ones. You like it?" It wasn't your typical girly cute tattoos. It was a black dragon curled around it's coal-red egg. "I have a few more, but you can't see some of them."

I stretched again. A look crept over his face that I didn't want to even try to identify. Shouldering his broom, he strode off. Was it something I said? Slightly confused, I followed him.

Yes, this was going to be an interesting year.

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**Thank you in advance to anyone who reviews! =33**


	4. Chapter 4

**No, sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling. Please refrain from pointing this out to me, or I may sic a rabid Chihuahua on you. **

**Okay, so there's a time jump between the last chapter and this one. It's now September. Rayne has been Sorted into Slytherin, but I don't care to write the scene. It's the first official day of school, and that's the only bits that haven't been put in.**

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"Hurry up, Malfoy! How long does it take to do your hair? I have to get ready, too, you know!" I pounded on the bathroom door. For the third or fourth time, I tried to use Alohomora to open the door. It didn't work, and I didn't know a more powerful unlocking spell.

Stomping my foot in a childish display of anger, I decided to try his door. Peaking out my door, I glanced from side to side. It looked as if everyone was already at breakfast or waiting around in the common room. I dashed into the hall and jiggled the doorknob to his room. The door opened easily, and I slid in. His bathroom door wasn't locked, so I barged in without knocking.

Draco was standing in front of the mirror, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He was messing with his hair, putting some random goop in it. I just stood there, gaping at his naked form. My God, he had some well defined muscles. He gave his hair a final swipe and turned around.

"What the hell are you doing in here, Rayne?" I was a wee bit dumbfounded. He was really good looking when he had clothes on, but without them I was afraid I'd start drooling.

"Umm… I had to get… ready, but, um, you were in here, and ah, I… Um…" I couldn't seem to form a sentence, something I didn't normally have problems with around boys. The tension between the two of us had been growing ever since that incident with the broom. Now I was reduced to blubbering. "Um, I should go!" I dashed out of the room and tried to keep my face from catching fire.

When I was in the privacy of my room, I had a mental flashback to when he said my name. It sounded really sexy and amazing when he said it. Thinking about it gave me shivers. I looked over at Lux, who was lying on my pillow.

"I've got it bad, don't I, babe?" He chirped and went back to sleep. I timidly tried the door to the bathroom. It opened. The bathroom was free of sexy naked blondes. I got in and did my thing as quick as possible, and tried not to think about a certain someone being in this very room moments before.

The moment I set foot in the common room all conversation ceased. Was there something wrong with my hair or something? Draco resumed talking to some tall, dark boy. Everyone else started talking again. The boy looked at me and then turned back to Draco and said something. Draco's eyes widened and he gestured frantically at him, a large, negative movement. The boy stood up and walked over to me.

"Draco tells me you have a tattoo. Can I see it?" He smiled what I'm sure he thought was an alluring smile. I almost rolled my eyes, but decided to take it as an opportunity. Draco would learn not to talk about me.

"One second. I need to go talk to Draco for a moment." I walked with a nonchalant, floating manner to Draco. Even though I wasn't acting aggressive in any way, Draco looked very scared. Maybe he could sense that I was royally pissed off at him. "So, why are you talking about my ink to strangers?"

"Don't be dramatic. He's not a stranger. He's Blaise Zambini. One of my closest friends." His words were offhand, but his tone was tight with nerves.

"He's a stranger to me, Malfoy. You're lucky I don't beat the shit out of you right now, you prick. You have no right to tell anyone about my ink. It's personal." the whole time I'd kept my voice light and quiet. Walking away, I whispered over my shoulder, "And now there's at least three you're never going to see."

"Why won't I see them?" His voice was hoarse. Now I'd said that, he'd wouldn't stop thinking about it. I'd hold this over him and he'd be like this all day. I smirked. He'll have to wonder.

I just walked off. Blaise followed after me, wondering why I hadn't shown him a tattoo. Rolling my eyes, I pushed up my right sleeve and showed him the twisting flame pattern I'd had tattooed there. I finished making my way up to breakfast and got started with what was soon to be the most hellish week of my life.

First of all, that whole silence whenever I walk into a room thing happened in every class. Apparently, having tattoos had made me an instant star, but not in a good way. Just like back home; one person saw my arm tat when I rolled my sleeves up on a hot day, and the next I was a pariah. I kept my head down and tried not to make eye contact then got the hell out as soon as the lesson was over.

Then, on top of that, Draco avoided me all week. I thought maybe he'd follow me and ask about those tattoos he would never see. That, I could deal with. This ignoring me thing I could not. I needed to have _contact_, people! Over the summer he wouldn't leave me alone, and this sudden retraction of attention had left me a little confused.

It seemed that I could have been on level with the most others in my year, but one girl in Gryffindor seemed way ahead of everyone. Her hand was always in the air, eager to answer every question. In every class, she sat next to a pale, dark haired boy with a scar and a ginger boy who looked completely lost. Sometimes, the boys would fall asleep and she'd subtly wake them up. Somehow, I felt like they'd be flunking without her.

I stayed in the back of every class, but still managed to get called on at least once in each of them. I knew most of the answers, except in Potions. That was the only time during the first day when Draco even looked at me. He threw me a scathing look over his shoulder and spouted the right answer. Snape, damn him, then awarded Slytherin five points, when less than a minute before he'd docked points from Gryffindor for that know-it-all talking out of turn. I may be in Slytherin, but ill-begotten gains did not sit well with me.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, I was almost ready to punch that stumpy, dumpy, toady bitch of a teacher in the mouth. She used a sickeningly high-pitched voice, trying to give more appeal to the complete nonsense spilling out of her terrible maw. She thought people who were like me, people who weren't from magic descent, weren't really magic. She thought that we shouldn't use magic in class, since we wouldn't be encountering anything dangerous in the school. Those repulsive pink cardigans did not help her case, since they just made me think of her as a giant pink toad.

Divination was my favorite class. The teacher, Professor Trelawney, was a woman who looked to be about 30 or 40, and wore thick, Coke-bottle glasses. She talked kind of strange, with a misty, otherworldly tone. Still, she seemed nice. She made the subject interesting. It made me really angry when the ginger that the know-it-all hung out with started cracking jokes about her. At the end of the lesson, I took some of the tea dregs out of my cup and tossed them in his hair.

I didn't even go to dinner that week, instead taking that time to explore the grounds of the school. I'd heard that there was a giant squid in the Black Lake and wanted to take a look. If there was one, I didn't see it. I did, however, see a greenish person with anemone-like hair. She sat there, staring at me, then dipped back below the surface. She did this every time I went out there.

I went back into the school just before curfew. I passed the weird caretaker guy as he closed the doors, and he gave me a dirty look, but I wasn't doing anything wrong, so he couldn't do anything. So far, I did not like him, but I loved his cat. She was pretty, even if her name was stupid.

The dormitories were freezing even though it was only September, so I'd light a fire using the Zippo lighter I carried around with me. Magic made life easier, but only if you could remember the spells and whatnot. I've been told that people can do magic without spells, but that it was usually not on purpose and could be extremely dangerous. Changing into my pajamas, I would snuggled down into the green downy pillows that were so abundant on my bed and fall asleep.

Around three A.M. on Saturday I woke up freezing my ass off. The fire had went out, I couldn't find my Zippo, and I couldn't remember the spell to light it. I wrapped my duvet securely around myself and crossed over to Draco's room.

"Malfoy, come light the fire for me in my room." He didn't respond. "Hey, come on, wake up!" I shook his shoulder a bit and rolled him over onto his back. "Malfoy, come on, I'm not going to leave you alone until you help me!" I shook him harder. "Ass!"

I looked longingly at his blazing fire. Shrugging, I climbed into his bed, making sure to stay wrapped in my blanket and him under his. Surprisingly cozy in the foreign bed, I fell asleep just as fast as I had in my own.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed, Rayne?" The sheets scratched me as I was dumped unceremoniously off the bed. I rubbed my head where I hit it on the floor. Before I could stop myself a beastly snarl escaped my lips.

"What the hell did you throw my in the floor for, Malfoy?" I threw a pillow at him. He sidestepped it and snatched it out of the air, then tossed it back at me. It hit me in the head. I fell back into his nightstand, and one of the drawers fell out and hit me in the head. This was not my day. Something hard and metal fell into my lap.

"Is this my Zippo, you freaking weirdo? Why's it in your drawer?" I had one crystal clear moment when I saw myself catching that asshole on fire. It was like I was separate from myself, watching the future. I was seriously considering it when the door opened. The lighter had lit itself while I had my moment.

"Malfoy, it's time for practice-" The speaker, some random kid I assumed was on the Slytherin Quidditch team, stopped speaking when he saw me. I saw his misconception before he even started to say another word. "Damn, Draco, you need to stop banging crazy chicks!"

I was furious. I knew my eyes had changed to the brown-red of dried blood they always were when I was angry beyond belief. Something threw the boy out of the room. The door slammed shut after him. I was pretty sure it was me. I turned back to Draco, still holding the lit lighter.

"You know, I was just thinking about lighting you on fire, Malfoy." I was using a light, conversational tone. It didn't seem like a scary thing to say until I said it. I looked him in the eyes, and I knew he saw my eyes change back to their normal vivid aqua. I felt like a freak and he thought I was, too. "Why'd you have my Zippo, Malfoy? I'll have you know that this was a present to me from my grandfather."

"No, I didn't know that. Now, if you'll kindly get out of my room?" He marched over to the door between our rooms. I could see the tension in his back and shoulders. Well, I'd officially scared him off. Not that I'd wanted him in the first place. Yeah, that's it, Rayne, deny, deny, deny.

Draco threw the door open, basically an order for me to leave. If I didn't go now, I'd look even more insane. I wrapped myself in my duvet and left with all the dignity I could muster. So not much. I got dressed then waited for Draco to go to practice. I gave him a good half hour before following him to the pitch.

Draco's brief explanation of Quidditch had left me… intrigued. I wanted to learn more about it. It wasn't that I was following Draco. Not at all. I know, I wasn't fooling anybody. I crept into one of the Slytherin stands and watched them run a practice game. It amazed me that they could zoom around hundreds of feet in the air without fear.

Suddenly, Draco took a nosedive. I was almost afraid he was going to crash, but he pulled up at the last second. In his hand was a glittering gold ball. The Snitch. Officially, the game was over. Draco took a lap around the pitch. When he came close to where I was perched, I hit the floor to keep him from seeing me. I'd purposely stayed away from where his friends were sitting. Yes, I was stalking him; no, I would not let him know that.

I dashed back to the dorms while Draco went to the locker rooms to… well, if I started thinking about what he's doing there, I wouldn't be able to walk into the common room. As it was, I had to duck into an alcove to catch my breath and put my hair in place. There was almost no one in the common room, so I didn't have to worry, but better safe than sorry. I thought about going to my room and locking myself in until Monday, but went into Draco's room on a whim. I waited on his bed for him to come back.

"Um, hi." I greeted his shocked and slightly annoyed face. "I just wanted to apologize about showing up in your bed this morning. It wasn't appropriate to invite myself into your room. If I overstepped my boundaries, I'm sorry." I flipped my hair over my shoulder and laughed a little under my breath. "Now that I think about it, inviting myself into your bed again is not the best way to apologize for doing it in the first place. So, I'm gonna… go, now."

I rushed past him, covering my face with my hair. I hoped to God that he didn't see my blush. I really needed to stop putting myself in these situations. It was like I enjoyed seeing myself crash and burn. Damn you, self-destructive actions!

I felt as if he was going to stop me, to pull me back, but he didn't. He shut the door behind me. I wiped my eyes, which had chosen a ridiculous time to start watering, and spent the rest of the weekend locked in my room. Monday, I got detention from that toad Umbridge for yelling at her when she made another comment about my less than pure wizarding background. She's lucky I didn't smash her face in, with me being in the mood I was.

Her detention was hell. It was child abuse, for God's sake! She had this quill, but it didn't write with ink. It wrote with blood. When you started writing, the words were carved into your hand. So now I have _I will not yell in class _scarred into my hand.

I didn't show anyone my scars, but I knew others were getting the same damn treatment. You could tell who had been in Umbridge's detention because they kept their hands under their sleeves. We all silently acknowledged each other. If a Hufflepuff had scars, then they didn't get picked on as much. Gryffindors didn't pick fights with Slytherins who had the scars, like myself. Slytherins didn't egg on Gryffindors who had the scars.

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**Yeah, this one isn't that good. Expect more very soon. I actually cut off the last half of this one to start the next one, so that's almost done.**

**Reviews are appreciated. Please don't make me be reduced to begging!**


	5. Chapter 5

**No, sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling. Please refrain from pointing this out to me, or I may sic a rabid Chihuahua on you. **

**Okay, thank you, people, for reviewing. In case you didn't realize, that was sarcasm.  
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Little things kept going missing from my room, like my favorite hair tie, or my leather bracelet. I'd find them around the common room, and no one knew how they got there. It was pretty obvious who it was, but I couldn't do anything without hard proof. I kept telling him to stop, but he'd pretend he didn't know what I was talking about and laugh about me to his friends. Then, one day, a few days after Halloween, my ring was stolen.

The ring wasn't really worth much, or even all that pretty, but it had a lot of sentimental value. My one and only friend I'd ever had had given it to me for a Christmas present when I was young. Now, the silver had tarnished and the small engravings could hardly be seen. It was smaller than my fingers, so I wore it on a chain around my neck. I knew it had been stolen because the chain had been left in a neat pile on my bedside table.

I burst into the common room, my eyes a dangerous black-red. The air around me was crackling with my fury. This time, he'd went too far; he'd roast for it. All conversation stopped, like it did at the beginning of the year. It was a Saturday, but not a Hogsmead weekend, so most people were in the common rooms. I stood on the opposite side of the room from him, and he looked up from something in his hand.

"Give. It. Back." My voice was just as dangerous as my eyes. I wasn't shouting, no, not even talking above a whisper. My words still echoed around the room. "You took something that means a great deal to me, and I want it back. If you give it to me this instant, I will leave you alone; I'll be that stranger you pass on the street, just give it to me." Until this moment, I'd kept my face down, but now I looked into his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Raynebowe. Now, why don't you go hide in your room like a good little Mudblood?" He rolled his eyes. That asshole was putting a show on for his friends. I felt my hands curl into fists, and I stood up to my full height. I was tall and intimidating, and I knew it.

"Draco, I'm giving you one last chance before I beat the living hell out of you. If you don't think I can and will do it, take a look into my eyes, you smug bastard." My voice was still deathly quiet, but I had no doubt everyone could hear me. He raised his arm, and I saw what he was about to do, just as my ring went sailing through the air, into the back of the huge hearth. I let out an earsplitting shriek and flew over to the fire.

Without even thinking about my arm, I thrust it into the flames and tried to snatch out the ring. I finally got it, but I also got a handful of embers. I didn't even feel it. Life slowed down, and I think I almost blacked out. Instead, I sprung to my feet and dashed out of the common room. Running blindly, I ended up in some deserted corridor, with no portraits to help me out.

Now I could feel the burns on my arm. They hurt really bad, but I was so hopelessly lost that I didn't know where to begin to find my way to the hospital wing. I was crying into my knees, trying not to bring attention to myself, when I felt someone touching shoulder. I looked up and saw that Gryffindor who hung out with the know-it-all. He was supposed to be famous in the wizarding world, but I could not remember his name.

"Hey, are you okay?" He was using a soft, gentle tone, like I would with a wounded animal. Which, I guess I was. I wiped my eyes with my good hand and shook my head.

"I'm lost, and I can't find the hospital wing. Can you help me?" I held my arm up so I could take a look at the burn. It was worse than I thought. My sleeve was gone, and the skin was cherry red and blistering. "Damn, that looks really bad. I'd appreciate it if you would get me there as quick as possible."

He stood me up and rushed me across the school. I think I zoned out for a bit, because the next thing I remember was waking up, hearing Madam Pomfrey talking quietly to the kid who helped me. I was lying in a hospital bed, with the curtains drawn. I was kind of tingly and knew that if I moved, I'd start hurting again.

"It's serious, Potter. This isn't just a wound of the body, it's a wound of the heart. If you can heal the heart, you can heal the body. I'm sorry, boy, but I'm no miracle worker. She's got to take care of the heart herself."

Madam Pomfrey and the boy were just on the other side of the curtain. Harry Potter, that was his name! I don't know why I couldn't remember that, but whatever. He came back into the enclosed area with Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey gave me some weird concoction that I almost choked on, but I drank it all anyway.

I started to feel a little more grounded, but I could also feel every ache and hurt in my body. I'd rather feel high. The bandages on my arm itched, and the lights glared into my eyes. Madam Pomfrey gave me instructions to rinse the burn with warm water twice a day, and apply some foul smelling cream as often. The bandages needed to be changed twice a day, also. I was not to pop the blisters for any reason, but to come see her when they popped on their own.

It was getting late. I'd been in the hospital wing for longer than I thought. Madam Pomfrey bustled away, leaving me alone with Harry. He stood awkwardly for a moment, then turned to go.

"No, wait!" I grabbed him by the wrist. "Don't go. I… I don't want to be alone." I couldn't stand being alone. Whatever Pomfrey had given me was amping up my natural paranoia and if I was alone, I'd probably go postal. "Just… Lay next to me until I fall asleep."

I'd grown up on a low-income. I used to have to share a room with my mom, and a heartbeat is comforting to me. Harry lay down on the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around me, careful of mine. He kissed the top of my hair lightly, and I curled into his chest, tucking my uninjured left arm between us. I was asleep in no time.

**Okay, not the best chapter in the world. The next one will be better, unless you consider changing a few minor details about a character's personality unacceptable. Then it's going to be horrible. I've gotten it half-written already, so it should be up soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**No, sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling. Please refrain from pointing this out to me, or I may sic a rabid Chihuahua on you. And I'm warning anybody who will flip out at any non-canon facts about the original characters again, get out now.**

**THERE'S STILL TIME, GET OUT WHILE YOU CAAAAN!**

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When Madam Pomfrey woke me up in the morning, Harry was gone. I didn't expect him to even stay until I fell asleep, but it's always weird to wake up alone when someone was there the night before. I guess the opposite is true, too. When I was up completely, Madam Pomfrey took the bandages off and washed the burns. That hurt like a mother fucker, but the cream numbed it a bit.

I timidly made my way back to the great hall. Breakfast was almost over, so there shouldn't be a lot of people, but hopefully the one I wanted to see would be there. I slouched and tried to blend into the wall as I made my way over to the Gryffindor table. He was sitting around the middle of the table, with those two kids who always seem to be around him. Everyone else seemed to be avoiding him. He saw me hanging out conspicuously at the end of the table, and left the great hall. I followed him out.

"Hey, I just wanted to thank you, I guess. For helping me yesterday." Now that I was actually talking to him, I felt a little awkward. I had never been good around people. Boys especially made me a bit nervous, because I just couldn't get into their heads the way I could with girls. I'd never really had many friends, but I could feel something growing between me and Harry.

"Um, no problem, I guess." He looked like he felt as awkward as I did. Suddenly, he lurched forward and kissed me. It was actually pretty nice, and I actually started kissing him back when I got over my initial shock. He pulled back and gasped, "I, ah, was just… checking!" With that, he ran up the grand stairwell.

I raced after him, intent on finding out what the hell was up. He kept going up stairs, taking random turns that made no sense to me. He ducked into a doorway that appeared out of nowhere on the seventh floor, across from a moving tapestry of trolls in tutus attacking some dude. I caught the door just as it was closing and slipped in. Harry was sitting with his back to the wall, staring into empty space. His face was pale and he was shaking as if he'd seen the Bloody Baron.

"Hey, hey what's wrong?" Before I saw him, I was going to punch him, but now I couldn't. He looked like he was going to start crying. "Harry, tell me what's wrong, hon." I put my arms around his shoulders.

He looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm gay. I wasn't sure, but then I kissed you, and now I know."

"Yup, every girl wants to hear that she turned someone gay," I said dryly. "Why are you freaking out like this? I mean, it's the nineties, who cares? It's not really that important." I rubbed his upper arms a bit, trying to warm him up some.

"It's just… It changes how I see myself, you know? How can I be gay without knowing it for so long? I don't get it." He rested his head against mine, and I ran a hand over his hair.

"How does anyone know their sexuality? It is what it is, my friend." And he was my friend. I'd not known him for long, but I could tell we were going to be good friends. I mean, we were both outcasts, in a way; Harry was being shunned for saying something no one wanted to believe, and I was just a freak. We could bond over that.

"Oh my God, how am I going to tell Ron? He'll flip his lid!" Harry buried his face in his hands. "I can't lose Ron, he's one of my best friends."

"Um, I'm assuming Ron is that tall ginger dude?" I still didn't know his friends' names well. He laughed a little.

"Yes, Ron is 'that tall ginger dude'."

"Don't worry. If he's a real friend, he'll support you." I hugged him and sat their with him for a while. I finally got antsy, and stood up. "Let's go do something, I'm tired of sitting here."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room. My legs had gotten stiff from sitting still for so long and I fell when my knee buckled under my weight. Harry pulled me up with the same ease Draco had. What was with Quidditch players and being strong and not being muscular? I leaned on him for a moment, but when I tried to move again, something washed over me.

I started shivering, an inner shake I couldn't stop. Images I didn't remember seeing first-hand started flashing in my mind. They blurred together, forming a single picture. I saw a boy, about three years older than me, tall, with bright grey eyes and thick, dark hair. And then he was dead, covered in blood, while Harry struggled against a very powerful and evil force.

"You were there," I whispered. "You were there, and no one believes you. They won't believe you even though you had to see a boy you cared for die because of it." I hated these things I saw some times. It was like I was looking at a raw piece of someone, then kicking it with a steel-toed boot. Trying to get his mind off the grim and obviously painful thought, I asked the first thing that popped into mind.

"Do you know how to do handstands?" He gave me a strange look.

"That's really random. Um, no, I don't know how to do handstands." He ran a hand through his hair. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to learn whether I want to or not?" I grinned.

"Take your shoes and socks off." I bent down and took mine off. "Okay, watch what I do." I showed him how to get up on his hands. "Then you have to find your balance. After that, with a little practice, you can walk, run, whatever. I know a guy who danced at his wedding on his hands. Now you try." I let my feet fall over and bring me back upright.

"You make it look easy," he said after just flopping over the first few times he tried. "This is impossible for anyone with normal joints to do!" He threw himself back and closed his eyes.

"Oh, come on! You zoom around, hundreds of feet above ground on a broom, and you can't take a few falls off your hands? That sounds seriously messed up." I pulled him back up onto his feet. "Here, I'll hold your feet until you can find your balance."

Harry tried again, but this time I grabbed him by the ankles before he could fall over. He stood like that for a few seconds, but all his blood rushed to his head and he had to stop. I started showing off, walking on my hands, standing on only one hand, stuff like that. Then, I got bored and started doing cartwheels and flips. That is, until I landed on my left hand wrong and the bandage twisted against the burn painfully.

"Shit, holy fuck, God damn!" I fell on my ass and held my arm to my chest. "When I go back to the common room, I'm going to punch Malfoy in the mouth!" I had to bit my lip to keep from crying, it hurt that much. I then had the belated idea to look and see if any teachers were around to deduct points for swearing.

Harry came over and checked that my arm hadn't exploded or something. When he was sure I was okay, he asked, "Why are you going to punch Malfoy? Not that I'm objecting, just looking for a reason. Could I use it, too?"

"Okay, so you know that I burnt my arm pretty bad yesterday. Well, Malfoy had stolen my ring that my best friend back home had given me a few years ago. I'd asked him to give it back, but he's an ass. I finally told him I was going to beat the hell out of him if he didn't give it to me and he threw it into the fire. I grabbed it out. You know the rest."

I rested my forehead on my knees. I was starting to feel woozy. Breathing deeply, I leaned against Harry. He was warm and his presence was comforting. He didn't say anything, just sat there, but that was all I needed.

When I started to feel less sick, I stood up and started pacing. I had a ton of energy and nothing to do with it. I didn't want to start doing cartwheels again and bust a blister open. I could be doing homework, but that was really tedious and wouldn't help my energy at all. I sighed exasperatedly and threw myself on the floor. I closed my eyes and started thinking about home. I missed Mom, and the apartment, and all the places I used to go. I felt a few tears drip off my face.

"When you're here, do you ever miss your home?"

"This _is _my home. The Dursley's house is just where I go when the school year is over." Harry lay back next to me, his arms folded under his head.

"I don't think I could ever consider Hogwarts home. I miss my little room in my little apartment over my mom's tattoo parlor. But I guess since I made a friend here, I'm more popular than I am at home." I laughed dryly.

"You don't have any friends at home? You're so lively and interesting!" I sighed.

"Lively and interesting? More like a hyperactive freak show. And in my high school, only the gangsters and scum have real tattoos. I didn't go for any girly crap, so I'm an outcast. And my weird sense of humor is a major turnoff for most people. What about you? Do you have any friends?"

Harry ran his fingers through his hair. Whoops, this was probably not the right thing to say. His eyes looked stormy and he blew his breath out in a gust.

"Well, I don't have any friends in the Muggle world, and no one likes me in the wizarding world now. So, I'm kinda alone right now, except for Ron, Hermione, and you, I guess." He laughed weakly. "Man, am I a drag or what?"

"Nah, that's okay, I'm just as bad. Maybe we should start a 'Nobody Loves Me' club. We could meet every Saturday night, because what the hell else are we gonna be doing?" I rolled over and rested my forehead on the cool stones. "Have you ever gotten a tattoo?"

"No, I've never gotten a tattoo." He smiled at me. "I'd ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer." I pulled my permanent markers from my bag.

"Do you want a tattoo? Obviously not a _real _one, just a temporary. It'll only last about six weeks. Plus, no pain from the tat gun, but the felt tips on the markers tickle really bad."

"Sure."

"Okay, what do you want and where do you want it? But I'm telling you now, I'm not giving you a tattoo on your ass."

"I'm not sure what I want… Maybe you could come up with something?" I smiled deviously.

"Take off your shirt. Don't blush so, just take it off! It's just us." He pulled his shirt over his head, his cheeks a tomato red the whole time. "What's your zodiac sign?"

"My what?" I sighed exasperatedly.

"What's your birthday?"

"The 31st of July."

"Leo, The Lion. You're ruled by the Sun. You're a fire sign, too. Okay, I know what I'm going to do." I pulled him back down to the floor and rested my elbows on his thighs. When I touched the red marker to his stomach skin, he giggled like a little girl. "If you keep moving it's going to smear!" After that he sat still, but every once in a while he'd let out a squeaky, strangled noise.

"Are you almost done? You're killing me!" I blended yellow around the edge and sat up.

"Yup, I'm done. You like?" I held up a little mirror that I also had in my bag. "Don't touch it yet, it's still wet."

"I love it! Where'd you learn to draw like this?" He reached down to touch the flaming sun I'd drawn above his bellybutton, but I smacked his hand away.

"My mom's a tattoo artist. When you hang around a tattoo parlor, you pick up techniques. I've actually been designing templates for a couple of years. Not allowed to touch a tat gun, though." Harry shivered. It was cold on the stone floor, even if it was barely November. I lightly touched the tattoo. "It's dry now; you can put your shirt back on."

Harry pulled his shirt back on. I absentmindedly scratched my bandages. The burn had stopped throbbing, but now it itched. Lux trotted around the corner and up to Harry and I. How he knew where I was, I had no idea, but he came over and butted against my knees. I scratched his ears and kissed his nose.

"Have you met Lux," I asked Harry. "He's my cat." Lux curled up in my lap and went to sleep. "How long did you stay last night? I know you were there when I fell asleep, but you were gone when I woke up." Harry ran a hand through his hair.

"I was there until Madam Pomfrey came to wake you up this morning. I didn't get much sleep, though. You kept kicking me in the shins."

"Sorry. I was having a bad dream." I left it at that. My dream was very personal and I didn't feel like sharing it with him right then. "You want to take a nap? I probably won't draw you a mustache."

"I'll just go back to my dorm." Harry stood up.

"Theoretically, I could still get to you in there. So really, your chances of waking up with a purple handlebar mustache are nearly equal. So really, it'd just be easier for you to just stay." Harry sighed and rolled his eyes but sat back down. He laid his head in my lap and closed his eyes.

"Promise you're not going to draw on my face?" He sounded like he was already half asleep.

"No." He opened his eyes and looked at me sharply. "But I promise not to give you a mustache. Happy dreams." He closed his eyes and was asleep in a moment. I was tired too, so I curled up and rested my head on his chest. Pretty soon I was asleep, too.

Harry and I were awoken by feet pounding the floor. Standing at the end of the hallway were Harry's friends, Ron and Hermione. We were curled around each other. We sprang apart as soon as we realized what they'd think, but the damage had been done. And so started my "relationship" with Harry Potter.

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**Is this a fantastic chapter? No. Did I go against my own rules and blatantly ignore canon facts? Yes. Oh well. **

**Please, do not send angry reviews berating me for making Harry Potter gay.**


	7. Chapter 7

**No, sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling. Please refrain from pointing this out to me, or I may sic a rabid Chihuahua on you. And I'm warning anybody who will flip out at any non-canon facts about the original characters again, get out now.**

**Thank you to anyone who's sticking with this, even after the last chapter. Review PLEASE. My canon-kicking seems to directly correlate with the number of reviews I get, and since I've only had ONE since I started writing this story, expect worse things to come.**

**Sorry this took so long. I've been stressing over testing and whatnot, and I've been working on other stuff, too. But this one's up! Hooray! But don't expect the next one up for a while. Sorry, I'm just a wee bit overwhelmed with everything...**

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"Mate, she's a bloody Slytherin Amazon! How can you even think about being with her?" That Ron kid was trying to talk Harry out of dating me. Hermione had seemed to sort of accepted me; or rather, she wasn't openly trashing me. I balled up a piece of parchment and tossed it at his head.

"Um, yeah. I can hear everything you say, idiot." He blushed crimson. We were standing outside Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, waiting to be let in. I'd been standing near Harry, as I had for the past week before every class. My eyes were the purple-brown they turned when I was annoyed.

"It's okay, just calm down," Harry whispered in my ear. Even though he was tall, he had to stand on his toes to reach my ear. "He's just jealous because you're taller than him." I snickered loudly, trying and failing tp turning it into cough. No matter how annoyed or angry I was, Harry could cheer me up.

Umbridge finally opened the door, and everyone crowded in. I sat at an empty desk in the back to let Harry sit with his friends. However, I wished I would have sat with him because Malfoy and one of his lackeys sat down in the open spaces at the desk. The other lackey stood behind Malfoy. I pointedly turned my back to them and rummaged around in my bag for a quill.

Malfoy muttered some comment about Mudbloods, but I was ignoring him. I felt more than heard something moving towards my head. I turned around just in time to catch the fist hurtling at me. Still holding the lackey's wrist, I jumped up and slapped him hard across the face. Surprise looked like it was trying to surface on his face from under the stupid.

"Miss Prodigioso, sit down," Umbridge shouted at me. I didn't even look at her. I pulled the guy by the front of his shirt.

"Listen to me, you vile excuse for a human," I hissed in his ear. "I'm going to use words that may not make it through the armor plating of your bulbous, misshapen cranium, so you'll want to find a dictionary later. If you ever attack anyone from behind again, I will kick your ass into oblivion. And believe me, it will be a lesson you remember, unlike any instruction in civility you have ever had." I shoved him away then turned to Malfoy. "And you! Why don't you grow a pair and take care of your own problems instead of having your obtuse dogsbodies do it?"

"Miss Prodigioso! Sit down, or you will have detention!" I whirled on Umbridge. I was irrationally angry, but I didn't care. I was tired of all this crap.

"DO IT THEN! Give me detention, you repulsive harpy!" Everyone was staring but I was beyond caring right then. I ran my hand through my hair, and something dripped onto my face. I must have busted the blisters open on Malfoy's dense friend's face. "I have to go." I dashed out of the classroom and to the hospital ward. I think someone called my name, but I was just intent on getting to Madam Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey! I accidentally busted the blister! I think I need some help!" I clutched my arm to my chest and looked around for Madam Pomfrey. She was in her office, but came bustling out when I shouted. She pulled another cream out of her pocket, and made me lie down on a bed so she could take care of it. All the while, I was muttering a steady stream expletives under my breath.

Harry came into the hospital wing, huffing and puffing. He must have been the one shouting at me when I ran out. For an athlete, he couldn't handle a lot of running. Madam Pomfrey shushed him quietly. I guess she thought I was asleep or couldn't handle seeing him while I was all loopy from the blisters.

"Hey, Harry. How angry was Umbridge when I ran out?" I sat up, leaning on my uninjured arm. Harry pulled a stool up next to my bed.

"Well, I don't really know. I ran after you." I laid back again.

"Damn. I was hoping something weird happened, like steam came out of her ears." Harry laughed and rested his elbows on the mattress.

"That doesn't happen a lot, but it happened once when I ate some sweets that made you sound like different things. I got a train." Madam Pomfrey looked like she was going to shoo Harry away, then looked like she thought of something else.

"Harry, go back to class and tell Professor Umbridge that everything Raynebowe did was because of a sudden burst of hormones from the blisters bursting.***** She needs to stay in the hospital wing so I can keep an eye on it." Harry looked at me. I just nodded and made shooing motions with my free hand. Harry took off running again.

Madame Pomfrey did a quick examination of me. "Have you been sleeping well, Rayne? Are you eating a balanced diet?" I tried not to look her in the eyes.

"Well, I've been having some nightmares so I've only been getting an hour or two each night, and I've never had a good appetite, so… I ate a piece of toast this morning, does that count as a balanced breakfast?" While I was talking, Madam Pomfrey yanked the bandage off quickly.

I swooned from the pain. When I came to, Harry was waiting by my bed. I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm. I looked up at him. "What happened?"

"You blacked out when she pulled the bandage off," he said, half-smiling. "I never took you for the fainting type, Rayne." I sat up and hit him lightly in the arm.

"That's not funny. Stop smiling, you arse." I coughed into my elbow. "Why do I feel like I've been drinking sand?" Harry handed me a glass of water from the table beside the bed.

"It's a side effect of one of the potions Madam Pomfrey is using to try to heal your burn." Harry looked at the clock in the medical ward, then glanced back at me. "Well, there's still almost an hour before the next class, but that means putting up with the repulsive harpy."

"Let's just stay here. I'll say I needed you for moral support. And if that doesn't work, no one can resist the puppy dog eyes." I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and forced my eyes into a weird luminescent blue. I looked up at him with the first glistening of tears in the corners of my eyes. "See? It screams 'protect me'."

"Yeah, now stop it. Your eyes are creeping me out." He turned away a little bit, looking out the window. We sat in silence for a long time. He jumped a little when the door opened and Hermione and Ron walked through. "Hey guys. Shouldn't you be in DA?" I blinked rapidly to clear my eyes to my normal aqua.

"We left early to see if Rayne was okay." Hermione looked at Ron a little angrily. "We were _both _worried very much." I had a feeling that Ron had expressed other such feelings, probably very loudly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But Madam Pomfrey wants to observe my blisters, so I won't be in any more classes today. Can I copy your notes later, Hermione?" I knew that's what Harry and Ron would be doing later, so why not me? "Is it alright if I come by Gryffindor Tower later?" I forgot that I wasn't supposed to know where that was; I didn't care, though. I'd never been there, so I was supposed to be in the dark about its location.

"Um, okay. Well, we're going to go now. Harry, are you coming?" He looked at me again. I rolled my eyes.

"You don't have to have my permission to go, Harry. You're still your own person." I smiled at him. "But could you bring my bag to me? I'm going to die of boredom in here."

He nodded and left. I rested my head back and took a little nap. It had been stressful today and I deserved to be lazy. Harry must have brought my bag and left, because when I woke up, it was propped up on the bedside table. But something I didn't expect was also there.

"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here?" I sat straight up and almost threw something at him. I guess I had been asleep longer than I thought because it clear night sky was showing through the window. That meant Malfoy was probably out after curfew. "Shouldn't you be in the dorms, terrorizing first years?" I sat back tiredly. It had to be after midnight.

"No. I mean, I feel bad about what happened. I came to make sure you were okay." He looked up at me with soulfully brimming grey eyes. "It's my fault. I never meant to push you away, Rayne, but I thought it was for your own good."

"What do you mean?" Ever since the first day of school, he had done nothing but insult me and hurt me emotionally. Could all of that been an act? He seemed sincere, but how did I know he wasn't acting?

"I can't let you get close to me. My father…" He faltered for a second. "My father is not a reasonable man, and if we were in a relationship… Bad things would happen. If my father thought I detested you, you'd be safe."

"What do you mean I'd be safe? I'm a big girl and can take care of myself." I rolled over onto my side so I wasn't looking at him. "Go to bed, Malfoy." With that, I promptly fell asleep.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

The next morning, I stretched luxuriously. It felt good to be able to sleep, with no dreams. I hadn't been plagued by the flashes of terror as I had since school started. I threw my hand off the hospital bed and accidentally hit someone in the face. Whoops. Looked like Draco had dragged a cot over and slept beside me last night. Maybe he was serious about what he had said last night.

"Hey," I whispered softly as he looked up at me. "Sorry for whacking you in the face." He rubbed his eye, where I had hit him. "So were you serious last night? Because if you were… Well, I think we have some stuff to talk about."

"I believe we do."

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**Not the best I've written, but I figured that you've been waiting long enough.**

**Review please, and cupcakes for all!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everybody! I've been taking a break from this, but I'm back. Be patient with me, please! Oh, and in the last chapter, I had an asterisk that I never explained. I put it there because I didn't know what happens when you bust a burn blister, but I didn't feel like doing the research. **

**JUST GOT BACK FROM WATCHING THE LAST PART OF HARRY POTTER! So High on Harry that I'm gonna crank this out as fast as possible.**

**(Oh, and I just wanted to clear something up. Her right hand was the one that got burned. I think that I messed that up in one of the other chapters, so I wanted to let you guys know that.)**

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We never talked. Right after we woke up, Madam Pomfrey bustled in. That woman was a one-woman bulldozing team. She made Draco scoot out of there in a most becoming, un-Malfoy-like fashion. Then, she tried to suffocate me with a freakish amount of food.

"Do you really expect me to eat that much? Are you insane?" I looked at her, almost sick to my stomach seeing that huge pile of food.

"Are you insane? You are a large young lady, and there is no way you're healthy on as little as you eat!" On the outside, I grimaced. But on the inside, I was smiling. It was good to find someone who was as feisty as me, and could take my crap and give it back just as bad. I was intimidating, what with my height and perpetual scowl, so almost no one talked like that with me.

"Fine, I'll try and eat it. No promises, though." I saw a pale face with jet black hair peek through the door. "Ooh, can Harry sit with me while I try to eat?" She frowned at him.

"If him being here makes your heart rate go up anymore, he's got to leave and you're going to stay here all weekend. You'll miss the Quidditch game tomorrow." She crossed her arms. "And if you don't eat half of the food, you're not going either."

"Deal," I said quickly. She walked away, and Harry sat down. "So, what's up?" I picked up a piece of fruit and popped it into my mouth. "I hope you haven't gone to breakfast yet, because you're going to help me eat half of this." I gave him the toast and little breakfast sausages.

"I came to check on you, and I'm not eating your food." He pushed the plate back in front of me. "Madam Pomfrey said you had to eat it, so eat." I wrinkled my nose and carefully bit into a sausage. I made a face, and Harry laughed. "Come on, it's not that bad!"

"Oh yes it is! I never eat this much. And she didn't even give me any coffee! I _need _coffee! Without my daily dose of caffeine, I'll go insane!" I made my eye twitch. Harry laughed again.

"So when are you getting out of here? Should I wait for you or not?" I thought. I still had to eat, and then get dressed and stuff.

"That depends. What's the first class today?" I couldn't remember what my schedule for this week was, and I was too lazy to look at the moment.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts. I heard that Umbridge has something foul planned for you today, because she couldn't give you detention." I groaned. I couldn't stand that woman.

"Oh, I think I can stay here a little longer, you know, do a little extra recuperating." I sighed. "I don't think Madam Pomfrey will let you miss another class to stay with me, though. So go ahead without me and say that I had to get some more Dittany put on my arm." Harry leaned down, kissed me on the forehead and headed for the door.

"Well, I'll see you in second class." I waved goodbye and dug into my food. I was alone in the hospital wing, so there was no one to talk to. After I ate, I pulled out my sketch pad. I was left handed, so I could still draw and write and such.

I started sketching a face, one I had seen in my dreams a few nights ago. I had dreamt I was dancing in a medieval ball. I wasn't a guest, though; I was the hired entertainment. Yup, I dreamt I was a whore. But that face wasn't the one I wanted to remember. I wanted to remember the man who gave me a dance.

The man's face had a soft face, but was strong at the same time. His hair was longish, pulled back with a piece of ribbon. It was an interesting shade of not-quite black; one moment it looked like it had red in it, the next blue, and the next green. I closed my eyes and let the memory of him wash over me. I could remember his smell, and the gleam in his perfectly sea blue eyes. I sketched out those eyes, and something struck a chord in me.

Those eyes were something I'd seen in my waking life. They weren't the same color as in the dream, nor were they set in a similar face. The face they rested in in this time was actually rather pointed. That pointed face had tormented me, the eyes mocking me from afar. I don't know why, but I felt sure that the man I had seen in my dream was a past life of Draco.

I looked at the sketch a moment longer, then checked with Madam Pomfrey that I could go. She waved me away with a disapproving look at my plate. I strolled down to my room and started preparing for the day. I looked at the mirror and wondered what I would look like with a spikier hairdo. As I watched, my hair changed to what I was thinking.

"Holy Hell! My hair!" I ran my fingers through it, amazed at what I saw. I thought about it changing to a stark white, and it did! I changed the tips a fiery orange. I liked it like this, so I would wear it like this in my classes today.

I looked at my schedule; the second class of the day was double Potions. I could handle that. If all else failed, I could play around with this skill I had discovered. It made sense when I thought about it; I mean, I loved the rainbow strips we had put in my hair, so they stayed the way they were. I could change the color of my eyes, too, so why not the rest of me?

With a smile on my face, I headed to Snape's dungeon.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Do you like it?" I fluffed up the bottom a bit and tilted my head. "Tell me the truth, Harry. Does it look good?" He rolled his eyes and chuckled. We were waiting outside the Potions room, and everyone else was waiting quietly like they always were. Snape intimidated most of them, but I didn't see what the big deal was. He was just a teacher.

"Rayne, you are fabulous all the time. You are incredibly beautiful and sexy, and you would look stunning even if you were bald." I snorted.

"You lay the compliments on thick, Harry." I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. I hadn't had a moment alone with Harry to tell him about my dream yet, but I intended to tell him. As I stood, I felt hypersensitive to the surrounding people, and one presence made me open my eyes. "Is that Malfoy?"

Harry looked over his shoulder to check, but I was already making a precautionary change. I made myself shorter, lengthened my hair, changed the color to brown and made it bushy so I looked like Hermione. I didn't want to talk to Draco now, in front of everyone. When we talked, if we talked, we needed to do in privately. I turned Harry around so that my back was facing Draco and Harry was facing me.

"Harry," I whispered. "I did not even think about him being here! Will you please sit with me?" I felt Draco's eyes pass over me, but he didn't pause on me, so I assumed my disguise was working. Snape opened the doors to his dungeon, and Draco darted into the room. I switched back to the appearance I had came in, and walked in with Harry.

Draco let out a choking noise when we walked past his desk, but I didn't look at him. Snape raised an eyebrow at my hair but said nothing. Everyone sat down and class started.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"You will also need ten Chizpurfle fangs and ten Lionfish spines," Snape said, finishing the ingredients list. Something didn't sound right, though. I raised my hand.

"Sir, are you sure it's _ten _Chizpurfle fangs?" Snape turned and glared at me. He placed his hands on his desk and looked at me levelly.

"Miss Prodigioso, I have been Potions Master for fourteen years. I think that I should know the proper amount of Chizpurfle fangs to put in a Wiggenweld Potion." I stared at him just as intently.

"Yes, I would think that you should know the proper amount. But you said ten, and it's only seven." Snape came out from behind his desk and strode over to mine.

"Oh, and how would you know? You have failed to open your textbook." He slapped his wand on my textbook and it opened to the right page. He didn't even look at it. "_Ten _Chizpurfle fangs." I stood up. I was about two inches taller than he was, and I would not accept him standing over me.

"Sir, I think that you might want to check the book." He got up in my face, but I didn't back down.

"I have no need to check." I clenched my jaw. The class was silent, watching the exchange between the professor and I. No one never stood up to Snape. Ever. But he was _really _pissing me off. I started levitating the book between us with my mind. The correct number underlined itself.

"Oh really? You don't have to check?" I raised an eyebrow. His face got really red. He turn on his heel and stalked out of the room. The whole class busted out laughing. I went to the supply cabinet and started gathering the ingredients. Neville Longbottom came up and started retrieving his materials, also.

"Um, Rayne. I just wanted to say that it was really brave of you to stand up to Snape." He didn't look up at me, but it looked like he was blushing. "Maybe the Sorting Hat should have put you in Gryffindor." I smiled pleasantly at him.

"Standing up to teachers isn't bravery, Neville. Most of the time it's pretty stupid. I was just sick of Snape's pompous attitude. I'm sure it'll blow up in my face pretty soon." I kept smiling the whole time I talked. I dug around in the cabinet for another moment. "Ugh, I can't find the Billywig sting slime, can you?"

"Oh, I think Malfoy has the last of the stores set out." I eyed Snape, who had finally come out of his office. "Do you want to go ask Snape for more?"

"Yeah…" This is how he was going to get me back. He was going to not give me any of the Billywig sting slime, and my potion wouldn't be complete, and I would have extra homework, so I wouldn't be able to go to the Quidditch match the next day. I would try it anyway. I walked over to him.

"And how may I help you this time, Miss Prodigioso? Do you care to tell me that I've made some other trivial error? Perhaps in the way I lace my shoes?" I took a deep breath.

"Sir, I would hardly say that having too many Chizpufle fangs is a trivial matter. Everyone's cauldron would have exploded. I would not like to comment on the way you lace your shoes, but I thought you might like to know that the supply cabinet is out of Billywig sting slime." I marched back to my desk.

I knew exactly what he was going to do; he was going to go into his office, get the exact amount needed for the class minus me, then set them out on his desk. I would have to make due. An ingenious idea came to me. I would make my own Billywig sting slime. There were plenty of dried stings in the cabinet. I got the jar of them, shook out a few, and got a two chemicals. One was a rehydrating agent, and the other was a reactivating agent.

I poured the first into a flask and dumped the stings in. I swirled that around until the stings looked plump, then I fished them out and set them in a dish with a slight dip in it. I poured a tiny bit of the reactivating agent in and ground the stings up into a paste. The paste gave of a mucus that looked just like the substance Snape was currently passing around to everyone but me. Smiling, I went about making my potion. At the end of class, mine was just as good as Hermione's, which turned out the best in the class.

I went about my day with a smirk that could have rivaled Malfoy.

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**What do you think? I know I haven't posted in quite some time, but I plan to do it more. It's been quite some time since I wrote on this, and to be honest, I forgot where the hell I was taking it, so give me a bit to get it back on track.**

**Hugs, kisses, and muffins for all the reviewers!**

**MB**


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